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Vol. 11, No. 40, Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Lamont High School ranks as one of the fastest improving schools in Alberta Michelle Pinon Editor
One of the fastest improving high schools in all of Alberta resides in our own backyard! Lamont High School (LHS) made the grade, ranking seventh out of 25 fastest improving schools in the province, as rated by the Fraser Institute. The Report Card on Alberta’s High Schools 2016 rates 307 public, private, separate and charter schools based on five academic indicators generated from Grade 12 province wide testing, grade-tograde transition and graduations rates. “Alberta parents want the best for their families and having the ability to compare school performance helps them make a more informed decision about the school their children attend,” stated Peter Cowley, Director of School Performance Studies at the Fraser Institute. LHS Principal Sharon McLean was very excited to hear about the ranking, that was publicly released on July 23. Being ranked in the top ten of 25 fastest improving schools, holds great meaning for her. “What it, (ranking), meant to me was that Lamont High is a school for our students, our parents, our community, and that they have
helped us tremendously. It also meant student
LHS Principal Sharon McLean achievement is a priority, student success and academics are a priority, and that we must prepare students for the future, we must help them succeed and give them skills, knowledge and tools they need to do well in their future. I was proud of our students, their focus on learning and the value they have for their education. I was happy from a community perspective in that our schools must provide a quality education. McLean, who took over the helm in September 2012, had a systematic approach from the outset. “Our goal was to increase achievement in the junior high grades, and every year we saw growth and success in the core areas. As a staff we agreed to participate
in the High School ReDesign project with Alberta Education.” She went on to explain, “We studied the foundational principals behind the school re-design, examined ways in which we could improve teaching practices, assessment practices, and work with students to make learning relevant, meaningful and important. We wanted students to be proud of their school and succeed academically. Our focus was instruction in the core subject areas
with a focus on increasing learning and achievement. One of our goals was for students to be self directed in learning, to have choice, flexible learning environments and lots of support, additional help with course work, and teacher availability for help and time. McLean also pointed out that timetabling for student achievement is crucial, and that increasing the Language Arts time, having subject specialist teachers in junior and senior high, Flex
Blocks, student centered learning, innovative teaching practices, career counselling, planning for post secondary, working hand in hand with parents as well as having students become more self directed in learning, as well as having high learning standards and expectations from teachers. Other contributors to LHS’ success is the teaching staff, who McLean describes as dedicated, energetic, hard working, passionate, and have
high standards and expectations from their students. “They, (staff), are creative, always looking for ways to improve success, innovative in teaching practices, engage students with technology, Google Classroom, choice in learning, and they are always looking enthusiastic and work as an amazing team. They have fun, enjoy teaching and love kids.”